Lawmakers Reintroduced the MATCH IT Act: What It Means for Patient Matching

One in five patient records in U.S. healthcare systems are duplicates. That’s the alarming reality revealed by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) in 2023. These duplicate records aren’t just administrative clutter—they’re linked to over 35,000 preventable medical errors every year.

Picture a harried mom rushing her feverish toddler to the ER, only to wait longer because the system can’t confirm if “Emma Johnson” is the same patient from last month’s visit. The MATCH IT Act wants to make sure Emma’s care isn’t delayed by a data glitch.

In response to this growing crisis, lawmakers have reintroduced the MATCH IT Act in 2025, a bipartisan effort aimed at fixing patient identification and reducing the chaos caused by mismatched or incomplete health data.

It’s like giving healthcare a better GPS—stopping doctors from taking wrong turns with patient data.

Here’s a breakdown of the bill, why it matters, and what comes next.

What is the MATCH IT Act?

The MATCH IT Act makes Advances in Trusted, Comprehensive, and Holistic Interoperability for Treatment. It’s a bipartisan bill focused on solving a key issue in healthcare—accurate patient matching. The Act encourages modern technologies and better data standards to ensure that health records match the right person every time, reducing medical errors and improving care coordination.

Why the MATCH IT Act Is Back in 2025

Initially introduced in 2019, the MATCH IT Act gained early support but didn’t advance due to shifting legislative priorities. For example, back in 2019, Dr. Patel at a small clinic might’ve sighed as she sifted through duplicate files for her diabetic patient, Mr. Lopez—hoping the Act would help. Now, in 2025, with post-COVID data chaos piling up, she’s got a second chance at that relief.

It’s like a movie sequel that took years to greenlight—same great script, just waiting for the right moment to shine. Lawmakers have reintroduced the Act as healthcare systems continue to struggle with fragmented records and data silos. The renewed push reflects growing recognition that solving the patient matching challenge is vital for nationwide interoperability and better outcomes.

Why Patient Matching Matters

Most patients don’t realize that their health records are often scattered across different systems—hospitals, labs, pharmacies, specialists—and those systems don’t always talk to each other.

When systems fail to match patient data correctly, it can lead to:

▪️Medical errors

▪️Duplicate records

▪️Delays in treatment

▪️Incorrect billing

▪️Inconsistent care plans

Even small name spelling, birthdate, or address mismatches can cause serious confusion. The lack of a national approach to patient identification has made this a recurring challenge.

The bill focuses on enabling the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support the testing and adoption of patient matching technologies. It also encourages public-private partnerships to improve how data is linked across health systems.

Key goals include:

▪️Improving patient safety through better data linking
Example: Think of Nurse Kim scanning a patient’s fingerprint to pull up their full history in seconds—no more guessing if this “Mike Brown” is the one with the heart condition.

▪️Reducing administrative burdens caused by duplicate records
Example: It’s like a super-smart librarian cross-checking a patient’s address and birthdate to find their scattered records so a surgeon doesn’t miss a critical allergy note.

▪️Supporting organizations building tools for accurate matching

▪️Encouraging the use of data standards to promote interoperability

The Act doesn’t enforce a single national identifier but promotes innovation within current privacy laws.

For example, the Act is like a toolkit for a mechanic—HHS gets to pick the best wrench (biometrics, data systems) to fix the engine of healthcare without forcing everyone to buy a new car.

How This Impacts Healthcare Providers and Health Tech Companies

If passed, the MATCH IT Act will likely encourage more hospitals and clinics to invest in tools that reduce errors from misidentified records.

Health IT companies may need to:

▪️Review matching algorithms

▪️Improve integration with national data standards.

▪️Support efforts to link records using biometrics, referential data, or AI-free rule-based systems

For providers, improved matching can reduce rework, missed records, and the cost of manually cleaning up data.

Industry Support and Opposition

Many health associations support the bill, including:

▪️The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)

▪️The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)

These groups have long argued that poor patient matching hurts care quality and system efficiency. While there’s broad support, some privacy advocates remain cautious, raising concerns about how new identifiers might affect data security.
Still, the bill does not create a national patient ID—it encourages the use of advanced matching methods that meet current regulations.

What’s Next for the MATCH IT Act in 2025?

As of now, the bill has been reintroduced in Congress and awaits further discussion. If passed, HHS will begin identifying and funding solutions that address gaps in patient matching.

Healthcare tech, data management, and provider network stakeholders should monitor updates and evaluate how their systems handle patient identification today.